Nasty Nurses.

Five of us walk onto the neurology day unit for a scheduled teaching session. A nurse walks past us whilst giving us such an icy cold stare it sends chills down your spine.

She stops and turns around.

Flashes the most insincere smile with an evil glint in her eye. I have seen this look before by many other nurses, it's the look a cat has in its eye as it plays with a half dead mouse. It's the world renowned look of how rude can I be to these medical students?




"Why are you here?"....

Silence... I guess I will have to be the one to answer then...

"For teaching with Doctor X", I say....

"NO TEACHING, NO MORE TEACHING" She huffs loudly... "Please God NO more teaching".

She then walks off sighing, huffing and crashing around the place in anger.




Once the coast is clear us medics begin talking.

"Would she rather us turn up as an FY1 with no experience? I'm sure she would be moaning then".

"Because student nurses never learn anything" another says sarcastically "they just magically know everything... it's not like they are STUDENT nurses".




Our consultant for teaching turns up and we quickly hush. The nurse then comes back, big warm grin on her face, happy as Larry.

"Dr X, the patient wants to know if you want him sitting or standing?"

"Sitting".

"Can he have his medication at the same time?".

"Yes"

She swoons on his every word, and politely asks if he needs anything else. Inside us students are bitter, we did nothing to her, and she is rude to us.




Compared to many of the encounters with nurses we have had in the past this nurse was a delight. Most nurses are lovely- it's just a few that ruin it for the rest of them.




It begs the question, why do Doctors have a reputation for speaking harshly to nurses? I have not seen it yet in my four years, but I've seen much of it the other way around. I also wonder how we as medical students can cause so much bitterness and anger without doing a thing or saying a word?